Optical biosensor for pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, hormones, endocrine disrupting chemicals and pesticides in water: Assay optimization process for estrone as example

Certain contaminants at trace concentrations in surface waters can have dramatic effects on the hormonal system of organisms in the aquatic environment. Therefore, immunoanalytical methods at a very low limit of detection (LOD) and a low limit of quantification (LOQ) are becoming more and more important for environmental analysis and especially for monitoring drinking water quality. Environmental monitoring of antibiotics, hormones, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and pesticides in real water samples (e.g. surface, ground or drinking water) with difficult matrices places high demands on chemical analysis. Biosensors have suitable characteristics such as efficiency in allowing very fast, sensitive, and cost-effective detection. Here we describe an assay optimization process with a fully automated immunoassay for estrone which resulted in a LOD below 0.20 ng L⁻¹ and a LOQ below 1.40 ng L⁻¹. In contrast to common analytical methods such as GC-MS or HPLC-MS, the biosensor used requires no sample pre-treatment and pre-concentration. The very low validation parameters for estrone are the result of the continuous optimization of the immunoassay. The basis of our sensitive assay is the antibody with a high affinity constant towards estrone. During the optimization process, we reduced the amount of antibody per sample and improved the chip surface modification. Finally, this proceeding led to a calibration routine with an amount of antibody of only 3.0 ng per sample (sample volume: 1.0 mL). The reduction of the amount of antibody per sample results in better validation parameters (LOD, LOQ, and IC₅₀), but this reduction leads to the current device-related limitation of the River Analyser (RIANA).For some endocrine disrupting compounds, no effect levels (NOELs) in the lower nanogram per liter range are reported. This defines the challenge, which analytical methods have to compete with and our RIANA instrument with its improved sensitivity for the detection of a single hormone in the lower nanogram per liter range is a powerful tool in aquatic analytics in addition to the common analytical methods.     

Ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of oligonucleotides: retention prediction

An ion-pair reversed-phase HPLC method was evaluated for the separation of synthetic oligonucleotides. Mass transfer in the stationary phase was found to be a major factor contributing to peak broadening on porous C18 stationary phases. A small sorbent particle size (2.5 microm), elevated temperature and a relatively slow flow-rate were utilized to enhance mass transfer. A short 50 mm column allows for an efficient separation up to 30mer oligonucleotides. The separation strategy consists of a shallow linear gradient of organic modifier, optimal initial gradient strength, and the use of an ion-pairing buffer. The triethylammonium acetate ion-pairing mobile phases have been traditionally used for oligonucleotide separations with good result. However, the oligonucleotide retention is affected by its nucleotide composition. We developed a mathematical model for the prediction of oligonucleotide retention from sequence and length. We used the model successfully to select the optimal initial gradient strength for fast HPLC purification of synthetic oligonucleotides. We also utilized ion-pairing mobile phases comprised of triethylamine (TEA) buffered by hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP). The TEA-HFIP aqueous buffers are useful for a highly efficient and less sequence-dependent separation of heterooligonucleotides.     

Comparison of the acidity of residual silanol groups in several liquid chromatography columns

The silanol acidity of Waters Resolve C18, Waters Resolve silica, Waters Symmetry C18, Waters Symmetry silica, Waters XTerra MS C18 and underivatized XTerra columns has been measured from the retention of LiNO3 with a methanol/water (60:40) mobile phase buffered to different pH values. The Li+ cation is retained by cationic exchange with the background cation of the mobile phase (Na+) through the ionized silanols. The number of active silanols increases in the order: XTerra MS C18 < Symmetry C18 < underivatized XTerra < Resolve C18 < Resolve silica approximately equal to Symmetry silica. XTerra MS C18 does not present any residual silanol acidity up to s(s)pH 10.0 (pH in 60% methanol) as measured by LiNO3. The underivatized XTerra packing and Symmetry C18 present active silanols only at s(s)pH values higher than 7.0. For the other three columns, two different types of silanols with different acidity (s(s)pKa values about 3.5-4.6 and 6.2-6.8, respectively) have been observed. Symmetry C18 shows evidence of the presence of active basic sites that retain NO3- by anionic exchange.     

Performance of an ultra-low elution-volume 96-well plate: drug discovery and development applications

Recently, sample preparation has been considered to be the major cause of bottlenecks during high-throughput analysis. With the assistance of robotic liquid handlers and the 96-well plate format, more samples can be prepared for subsequent liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) analysis. Protein precipitation is still widely used despite potential loss of sensitivity or variable results due to ion suppression. The use of solid-phase extraction (SPE) clearly gives superior results but may not be as cost effective as protein precipitation due to the labor and material costs associated with the process. Here, a novel 96-well SPE plate is described that was designed to minimize the elution volume required for quantitative elution of analytes. The plate is packed with 2 mg of a high-capacity SPE sorbent that allows loading of up to 750 microL of plasma, while the novel design permits elution with as little as 25 microL. Therefore, the plate offers up to a 15-fold increase in sample concentration. The evaporation and reconstitution step that is typically required in SPE is avoided due to the concentrating ability of the plate. Examples of applications in drug discovery/development are shown and results are compared to protein precipitation. Excellent sensitivity and linearity are demonstrated.     

Immunosensor for estrone with an equal limit of detection as common analytical methods

Immunoanalytical methods at a very low limit of detection (LOD) and a low limit of quantification (LOQ) are becoming more and more important for environmental analysis and especially for monitoring drinking water quality. Biosensors have suitable characteristics such as efficiency in allowing very fast, sensitive, and cost-effective detection. Here we describe a fully automated immunoassay for estrone with a LOD below 0.20 ng L^–1 and a LOQ below 1.40 ng L^–1. In contrast to common analytical methods such as GC-MS or HPLC-MS, the biosensor used requires no sample pre-treatment and pre-concentration. The basis of our sensitive assay is the antibody with a high affinity constant towards estrone. The very low amount of antibody per sample results in low validation parameters (LOD, LOQ, and IC50), but this assay for estrone represents the current device-related limitation of the River Analyser (RIANA).     

ORGANISCHE PHOSPHORVERBINDUNGEN 80 HERSTELLUNG VON TRIAZOLYLMETHYL-PHOSPHONATEN UND VON TRIAZOLYL-METHYLPHOSPHONIUMSALZEN UND DEREN VERWENDUNG IN DER WITTIG-HORNER REAKTION

Abstract

Attempts to prepare 1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethylphosphonates (4 and 5) by a Mannichtype reaction or by transesterification of 1-hydroxymethyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol 1 with tertiary phosphites failed. On the other hand 4 and 5 are obtained by a Michaelis-Becker reaction from 1-chloromethyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol 3 and sodium phosphites in high yield. The Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction is less suited for the preparation of 4 and 5. 3 is obtained in good yield as a water clear liquid, b.p. 52–54°C/0.2 torr, from the interaction of 1 with thionyl chloride followed by treatment with a base. On standing at 0° or 20°C it decomposes within hours and yields the unsymmetrical methylen-bis(triazol) 3a in addition to other products. However an acetonitrile solution of 3 is stable for months. Heating this solution with tertiary phosphines gives triazolylsubstituted phosphoniumsalts 6 to 8. The Wittig-Horner reaction with 4 to 6 gives the olefinically substituted triazols 9–12 as a Z/E mixture in high yield. Alkylation of 4 with methyl-and ethyl iodide gives the corresponding alkylated diethyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl-ethyl-1-and-propyl-1-phosphonates 14 and 15 which on hydrolysis with HCI yield 1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl-ethyl-1-and propyl-1-phosphonic acids 17 and 18, respectively. Hydrolysis of 4 gives the unsubstituted 1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl-phosphonic acid, 16.     

Hydrothermal Degradation and Kinetic Studies of 1,3-Dihydroxy-2-Propanone and 2,3-Dihydroxypropanal

The equilibrium of 1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone (dihydroxyacetone) and 2,3-dihydroxypropanal (glyceraldehyde) and their dehydration reaction to methylglyoxal has been studied in the range of 180 - 240 °C under hydrothermal reaction conditions. A reaction mechanism for the conversion of these C-3 compounds was formulated which allowed the calculation of the product yields. In the investigated temperature range both compounds produce a maximum of 30-40% of methylglyoxal.     

Preparation and evaluation of monolithic poly(N-vinylcarbazole-co-1,4-divinylbenzene) capillary columns for the separation of small molecules

Short-term polymerization or the so-called low-conversion polymerization was applied for the preparation of N-vinylcarbazole (NVC) and 1,4-divinylbenzene (DVB) monolithic capillary columns. The synthesis was carried out by thermally initiated free radical copolymerization under the influence of inert micro- (toluene) and macroporogen (1-decanol) and α,α′-azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as radical initiator. The morphological and porous properties were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption, and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The copolymerization process was studied by monomer conversion measurements. This approach led to increased porosity and specific surface area. A specific surface area above 400 m²/g of the monolith and a distinct bimodal pore size distribution were obtained. The chromatographic performance was determined in terms of theoretical plate heights and number of theoretical plates. The lowest plate height value was found to be 3.9 μm (corresponding to ≈256,000 plates per meter) applying methylparaben utilizing an 80 mm?×?0.2 mm i.d. monolithic capillary. The developed NVC/DVB monolithic supports showed high separation efficiency towards small molecules, which was exemplified applying reversed-phase (RP) separation of alkylbenzenes, beta-blockers, flavanoids, parabens, and phenones. The loading capacity was analyzed for isocratic separation of seven alkylbenzenes and was found to be up to 77 ng total mass of alkylbenzenes. Furthermore, a long-term stability test of 1,000 consecutive runs was performed and resulted in a maximum variance of 0.97, 0.85, and 0.16 % RSD for resolution, peak width at half height, and retention times, respectively. The material was proven to have a high permeability of 1.11E?14 m², applying water as a mobile phase.